Generation GF Kids Magazine – Spring 2025

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Growing up, before I was diagnosed with celiac disease, I didn’t really know much about cooking or baking. My extent of kitchen knowledge was how to microwave TV dinners and make pasta from a box. When I was in high school, I took Home Economics. It was a class on basic home skills like cooking, baking, and even sewing. Unfortunately, I left high school remembering how to sew, but that was about it! I loved fast food and eating at restaurants, and the food in my fridge at home was lonely. In college, right before I was diagnosed, I used the college meal plans for every meal – breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Whatever meal wasn’t eaten in the dining hall was usually a take-out sandwich, or a bagel and cream cheese at the campus deli. Basically, I ate a lot of food that was prepared by other people, and a lot of gluten. So when I was diagnosed with celiac disease, the concept of cooking for myself was scary! I didn’t have the necessary skills in the kitchen to live my best, and most healthy, life. Shifting from take out meals to cooking at home was quite the change. 

These days, we are so lucky to have access to top chefs and bakers across the world because of the internet and television! YouTube is a great place to start, because you can search “basic cooking skills” and have hours of videos teaching you how to use a knife, how to cook pasta, make sauce from scratch, or how to use seasonings! I spend so much time (okay maybe too much) on Instagram following cake bakers and decorators. This is how I learned how to pipe frosting for cakes and cupcakes using a piping bag! Skilled gluten-free bakers have blogs with instructional videos on how to make gluten-free bread from scratch! There is endless information online, you just have to want to learn and have the patience to develop these new skills!

I’m hoping by teaching everyone about gluten-free kitchen skills, you’ll have a lot easier time being gluten-free than I did! In this issue, you’ll find several articles that can help with your kitchen confidence. Learning knife skills for cooking or game-changing baking recipes can prepare you for your gluten-free future.

-Erica